Albaad Massuot Yitzhak Ltd. (TASE: ALBA) subsidiary Albaad USA Inc. has received a large order for its infant wet-wipes, which will greatly boost the company's revenue. Albaad estimates the size of the order, from a "large international company", whose name it did not disclose, at $40 million over three years.
Albaad said that its US unit and the customer jointly developed the product, and that production will begin during the first quarter of 2010.
Albaad has three core markets: Israel, Germany, and the US. US revenue of NIS 64.3 million (about $16 million) in January-September 2009 accounted for 12% of the company's total revenue, but the US unit's profit of NIS 794,000 accounted for just 1.5% of total profit.
Albaad said that the contract should greatly improve its revenue and profits. It added that the order will nearly fully utilize Albaad USA's production capacity, and that the company therefore decided to immediately invest NIS 3 million to boost the unit's production capacity.
Albaad USA will hire 70 new employees for its North Carolina plant, boosting the workforce by 60%, which will make the plant eligible for state benefits.
Albaad is controlled by Kibbutz Massuot Yitzhak. The company has actually benefited from the global economic crisis as consumers switch to retailers' cheaper private brands.
Albaad's share rose 8.2% by early afternoon today to NIS 61.69, giving a market cap of NIS 383 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 10, 2009
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